Starting devtools with activate: false makes it so that clicking on the main window does not bring it to the front

[pushkin-]

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• I have read the Contributing Guidelines for this project.
• I agree to follow the Code of Conduct that this project adheres to.
• I have searched the issue tracker for an issue that matches the one I want to file, without success.

Issue Details

• Electron Version: 5.0.6
• Operating System: Windows 10

Expected Behavior

When I open devtools with activate: false, and the devtools appears in front of the main window, I expect that clicking on the main window will focus it and bring it to the front.

Actual Behavior

When doing the above, the main window does not get sent to the front, but it does get focus.

To Reproduce

main.js:

const { app, BrowserWindow } = require('electron')

function createWindow() {
  const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow();
  mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools({ mode: "detach", activate: false });
}

app.on('ready', createWindow)

Run npm start. Make sure that devtools is at least partially covering the main window. Notice that clicking on the main window that's in the back does not bring it to the front.

Observations:

1. The main window does get focus, and you can successfully open menu items
2. Clicking on the devtools and then back to the main window will bring the main window to the front
3. You can resize the main window and still observe the issue (resizing doesn't work around it)

[pushkin-]

This is also an issue in Electron 7.1.2

[darkguy2008]

Doesn't seem to happen in 8.2.3 but activate=false does nothing, the devtools window is always brought to the foreground :/

[pushkin-]

@darkguy2008 I can repro with 8.2.2. activate=false will keep the devtools window unfocused, but the problem is that focus doesn't go into my actual page.

activate=true will truly focus the devtools window, so it does have some effect.

[darkguy2008]

@pushkin- not in my case though, how are you calling the main window? in my case I do this:

app.allowRendererProcessReuse = true;
app.on('ready', () => {
    var dev = new BrowserWindow({
        width: 800,
        height: 600,
        minWidth: 800,
        minHeight: 600,
        y: 300,
        x: -800,
    });

    var win = new BrowserWindow({
        width: 800,
        height: 600,
        minWidth: 800,
        minHeight: 600,
        y: -800,
        x: 400,
        title: 'Editor'
    });


    win.webContents.setDevToolsWebContents(dev.webContents);
    win.webContents.openDevTools({ mode: 'detach', activate: true });
    win.loadFile(path.join(__dirname, "../angular/dist/index.html"));
    win.maximize();
    dev.maximize();
});

Setting activate: true or false in my case has no effect :( so I had to move the windows to separate monitors on launch so I could see the devtools window first.

[pushkin-]

@darkguy2008 I'm not using setDevToolsWebContents. See the example in my initial post for how I'm calling it.

[pushkin-]

Still a problem in Electron 10.1.2

[andmm]

This issue still happens on version 19.0.10. Activate flag does nothing and the devtools panel or window always get the focus.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

still repros with Electron 21. Gist

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

repros in v22, gist

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

bump

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

bump

[electron-issue-triage]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

repros in v27

[electron-issue-triage]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale. If this issue is still affecting you, please leave any comment (for example, "bump"), and we'll keep it open. If you have any new additional information—in particular, if this is still reproducible in the latest version of Electron or in the beta—please include it with your comment!

[pushkin-]

bump